A standardized and reproducible behavioral protocol to elicit visual spatial attention in mice

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Animal Behavior

Background:

• Understanding neural mechanisms of selective attention is crucial in neuroscience.
• Reproducible behavioral tasks are essential for studying mouse cognition and perception.
• Current methods may lack standardization for attention studies in mice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a standardized training protocol for mice in a visual contrast detection task.
• To establish a rigorous and reproducible method for studying selective spatial attention in head-fixed mice.
• To demonstrate that this protocol can reveal key aspects of attention similar to those observed in primates.

Main Methods:

• A standardized training protocol was developed for head-fixed mice.
• Mice were trained on a psychometric visual contrast detection task.
• Performance was assessed over 17 days, with stimuli presented at two spatial locations.

Main Results:

• Mice became experts in the visual task within 17 days.
• Performance metrics including speed, accuracy, and contrast sensitivity improved with training.
• Improvements mirrored hallmarks of spatial attention observed in primate studies.

Conclusions:

• The developed protocol effectively trains mice in a demanding visual task.
• This method reveals multiple facets of selective spatial attention in mice.
• The protocol serves as a rigorous, reproducible tool for the neuroscience community.